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TEXTILE  TRADE  TERMS 


Report  on  Misleading  Textile  Trade  Terms, 
Their  Causes  and  Remedies. 


PREPARED  BY 


NEW  YORK  UNIVERSITY 

BUREAU  OF  BUSINESS  RESEARCH 
Lewis  H.  Haney,  Director 


PRICE  FIFTY  CENTS 


NATIONAL   VIGILANCE   COMMITTEE 

Associated  Advertising  Clubs  of  the  World 

383  Madison  Avenue,  New  York 


3^ 


TEXTILE  TRADE  TERMS 

Report  on  Misleading  Textile  Trade  Terms, 
Their  Causes  and  Remedies. 


INTRODUCTION 

THE  purpose  of  this  study  has  been  first,  to  de' 
termine  whether  or  not  the  terms  used  in 
designating  textile  products  are  or  are  not  misleading; 
second,  to  determine  whether  there  is  any  difference 
in  the  meaning  of  textile  terms  as  understood  by  the 
trade  and  by  the  final  purchasers  and  consumers;  third, 
to  standardize  certain  terms  which  are  at  present  used 
to  designate  fabrics  manufactured  out  of  different  ma' 
terials,  by  finding  out  what  consumers  expect  to  obtain 
when  asking  for  textiles  under  a  certain  name;  and, 
fourth,  to  determine  definitely  by  test  to  what  extent 
certain  trade  names  are  misleading  to  the  public. 


NEW  YORK  UNIVERSITY 
BUREAU  OF  BUSINESS  RESEARCH 


Lewis  H.  Haney,  Director 

NORRIS    A.     BRISCO.     MERCHANDISING 

WILLIAM    F.    CORNELL,    PLANT    MANAGEMENT 

J.  ANTON    DE    HAAS.    FOREIGN   TRADE 

ROLAND    P.    FALKNER.   STATISTICS 

ELMER    E.    FERRIS.    SALESMANSHIP 

LEE  GALLOWAY.    BUSINESS    MANAGEMENT 

CHARLES    W.     GERSTENBERG.     FINANCE 

GEORGE   B.    HOTCHKISS.    MARKETING 

JOHN    T.    MADDEN.    ACCOUNTING 

JOSEPH    W.     ROE.     INDUSTRIAL    ENGINEERING 


90  Trinity  Place,  New  York 
Telephone:  Rector  0882 


August  15,  1922 


Director, 

National  Vigilance  Committee, 

110  West  40th  Street, 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

On  behalf  of  the  New  York  University 
Bureau  of  Business  Research,  I  desire  to 
report  that  we  have  completed  our  study  of 
Textile  Trade  Terms  and  hand  you  herewith  our 
report  on  that  subject.  This  work  has  occupied 
the  Bureau  during  the  course  of  the  last  nine 
months,  the  length  of  time  required  being  due 
to  the  delay  of  several  groups  of  women  in  re- 
turning questionnaires  which  were  submitted  to 
them. 

Mr.  John  M.  Stratton  has  been  of 
assistance  in  preparing  and  distributing  the 
questionnaire. 

Permit  me  to  say  that  the  subject  has 
aroused  considerable  interest  among  consumers  in 
various  parts  of  the  country,  as  is  manifested  by 
the  large  proportion  of  replies  that  have  been 
received  to  our  questionnaire.  I  believe  that 
the  results  are  fairly  representative,  coming  as- 
they  do  from  the  groups  of  women  located  in 
practically  every  section  of  the  United  States. 


Very  truly  yours 

Lewis  H.  Haney 


Director 


Textile  Trade  Terms 

Report  on  Misleading  Textile  Trade  Terms,  Their  Causes  and  Remedies 

PREPARED   BY 

New  York  University  Bureau  of  Business  Research 


The  New  York  University  Bureau  of  Business 
Research  has  completed  for  the  National  Vigilance 
Committee  of  the  Associated  Advertising  Clubs  of 
the  World  a  comprehensive  survey  of  the  trade 
terms  and  names  used  in  the  textile  industry.  In  this 
industry,  as  in  many  others,  there  appears  to  be 
much  confusion  in  the  meaning  of  the  various  terms 
used  to  designate  different  products;  a  confusion 
which  particularly  affects  consumers  although  it 
exists  throughout  the  trade.  Buyers  do  not  know 
from  the  name  what  the  nature  of  the  fabrics  is  and 
two  or  more  fabrics  of  different  weave  or  finish  or 
content  are  frequently  sold  under  the  same  name. 

This  situation  is  serious  as  it  not  only  encourages 
fraud,  but  also  retards  business  by  preventing  sale 
by  description  and  slows  up  turnover.  The  pre- 
vailing situation  requires  that  the  buyer  should 
analyze  samples  of  the  various  fabrics  with  little 
regard  to  what  they  are  called  and  makes  it  neces- 
sary for  dealers  to  run  the  risks  arising  from  carry- 
ing a  large  number  of  similar  fabrics  bearing  differ- 
ent names. 

In  order  to  provide  a  basis  for  clarifying  the 
situation  it  is  important  to  know  what  the  consumer 
thinks  the  different  textile  terms  mean  and  to  secure 
objective  tests  for  determining  what  terms  are 
apt  to  be  misleading.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  reason 
deductively  in  such  matters,  for  theories  based  ex- 
clusively upon  abstract  considerations  will  possibly 
be  erroneous.  A  sure  method  is  to  go  to  the  con- 
sumer and  find  out  what  is  actually  in  his  mind. 

This  is  what  the  Bureau  has  done.  Briefly,  the 
nature  of  the  investigation  here  reported  is  as 
follows: 

NATURE  OF  THE  INVESTIGATION 

A  list  of  100  textile  trade  names  has  been  taken 
as  representing  all  phases  of  textile  terminology. 


This  list  covers  various  kinds  of  goods  which  are 
called  silks,  linens,  woolens,  ranging  from  Aledo 
Silk  to  Woolspun.  This  list  has  been  supplemented 
by  another  containing  the  names  of  33  fabrics  which 
are  not  trade  marked  but  which  are  general  terms 
designating  different  weaves,  finishes  and  kinds  of 
material  current  in  the  trade,  such  as  Alpaca,  Bro- 
cade, Plush,  Pongee,  Voile,  Worsted.  This  supple- 
mentary list  is  important  for  the  reason  that  there 
appears  to  be  great  confusion  in  the  mind  of  the 
consumer  as  to  what  these  general  terms  indicate, 
which  adds  to  the  confusion  arising  from  the  num- 
erous trade  names  adopted  by  different  companies, 
such  as  Irish  Poplin,  Woolnap  and  Pongeea. 

Most  of  the  names  included  in  the  list  of  100  are 
terms  concerning  which  more  or  less  misunderstand- 
ing has  arisen  in  the  past.  That,  however,  is  only 
incidental  as  the  list  is  made  up  to  represent  all 
phases  of  trade-name  building.  The  supplementary 
list  of  33  fabrics  has  been  chosen  from  among  those 
which  seemed  to  be  most  likely  to  cause  confusion  as 
to  content. 

This  list  was  incorporated  in  questionnaires, 
copies  of  which  will  be  found  in  the  appendix  of 
this  report.  Those  to  whom  the  questionnaires 
were  sent  were  merely  asked  to  indicate  what  they 
believed  to  be  the  content  of  the  various  textile 
products  and  in  addition  were  asked  to  name  any 
textiles  by  whose  names  they  had  been  misled  in 
the  past. 

These  questionnaires  were  submitted  to  approxi- 
mately 1,000  women  in  all  parts  of  the  country, 
including  women  in  country  districts  as  well  as  city 
dwellers.  Approximately  600  replies  were  received, 
the  larger  number  of  which  came  from  the  following 
states:  Florida,  Illinois,  Massachusetts,  Maine, 
Nebraska,  New  Jersey,  New  York,  Ohio,  Texas  and 
Washington. 


54449G 


TEXTILE  TRADE  TERMS 


Valuable  assistance  in  placing  these  questionnaires 
was  given  by  women's  clubs,  the  home  economics 
departments  of  universities,  and  farm  organizations. 

It  is  important  to  observe  that  the  questionnaires 
were  tabulated  in  several  groups  and  that  the  re- 
sults secured  from  all  groups  were  so  similar  that 
the  weight  of  the  conclusions  to  be  drawn  from  them 
is  greatly  increased.  It  was  thought  that  possibly 
the  country  women  would  show  different  results 
from  the  city  women,  but  no  significant  difference 
appeared.  Furthermore,  a  group  of  approximately 
100  Columbia  University  women  students  gave  re- 
sults which  differ  little  from  the  others.  It  may 
thus  be  confidently  stated  that  the  results  arrived 
at  are  not  chance  results  or  due  to  local  conditions. 
Furthermore,  there  are  no  great  differences  concealed 
in  the  average  percentages  which  will  be  reported 
herewith  and  the  range  of  variation  is  small. 

The  questionnaires  addressed  to  women  all  over 
the  country  were  supplemented  by  one  sent  to  a 
number  of  department  stores,  a  copy  of  which  will  be 
found  in  the  appendix.  While  the  response  to  this 
questionnaire  was  small,  it  is  significant  as  showing 
that  the  present  situation  is  unsatisfactory  not  only 
to  consumer  but  also  to  retailer. 

In  order  to  have  a  complete  understanding  of  the 
situation  the  N.Y.U.  Bureau  has  had  a  considerable 
number  of  samples  of  various  textile  fabrics  an- 
alyzed, thus  enabling  it  to  know  more  certainly 
whether  or  not  the  understanding  of  the  consumer 
as  to  the  content  of  the  several  fabrics  is  correct.* 

In  a  considerable  number  of  cases,  however, 
reliance  has  been  placed  upon  such  sources  as  the 
Directory  of  Textile  Merchandise,  published  by  the 
Textile  World  and  the  findings  of  the  Federal 
Trade  Commission.  The  directory  referred  to  con- 
tains a  long  list  of  fabrics  known  in  the  trade  to  be 
cotton  piece  goods  although  designated  by  various 
names  which  might  lead  one  to  think  them  to  be 
silk,  linen  or  wool.  This  directory  is  recognized  as 
standard  and  while  the  Bureau  assumes  no  responsi- 
bility for  its  classifications,  it  is  believed  that  they 
are  essentially  correct. 


*This  work  was  done  by  Mrs.  Ella  McGowan  of  Teachers 
College,  ^  Columbia  University,  and  the  Bureau  wishes  to 
express  its  indebtedness  to  Mrs.   McGowan. 


The  general  method  of  basing  conclusions  has 
been  as  follows:  the  questionnaires  have  been  care- 
fully tabulated  to  ascertain  how  many  women 
thought  each  fabric  to"  fall  under  one  or  more  of  the 
following  heads: 

All  Silk 

All  Wool 

All  Cotton 

All  Linen 

Part  Cotton 

Silk  &  Cotton 

Silk  &  Linen 

Artificial  Silk 

Part  Wool 

Wool  &  Cotton 

Part  Linen 

Linen  &  Cotton 

Merely  a  finish  or  weave 

Don't  know 

Silk  &  Wool 
The  number  of  replies  received  varied  with  the 
different  fabrics,  ranging  from  about  350  up  to  over 
500.  From  the  total  number  of  replies  concerning 
each  fabric  the  number  of  those  who  indicated  that 
they  did  not  have  any  idea  as  to  the  content  or 
nature  of  the  goods  was  subtracted,  leaving  as  a 
balance  those  who  felt  able  to  express  an  opinion 
as  to  the  content.  This  balance  was  taken  as  a 
basis  for  computing  the  percentages  of  those  who 
thought  it  to  contain  one  or  another  of  the  different 
materials.  For  example,  454  of  the  questionnaires 
contain  replies  on  the  term  "Boulevard  Velvet," 
and  262  placed  the  check  mark  in  the  "Don't  know" 
column,  leaving  a  balance  for  this  fabric  of  192, — 
which  is  below  the  average.  On  this  balance  were 
computed  the  percentages  of  those  who  thought 
that  "Boulevard  Velvet"  is  all  silk,  which  was  44%, 
those  who  thought  it  part  silk,  etc. 

THE  TEST  OF  "MISLEADING" 

In  order  to  draw  conclusions  from  the  tabulations 
made  from  the  questionnaires  it  is  necessary  to  arrive 
at  some  standard  for  deciding  what  is  meant  by 
"misleading."  Obviously,  a  term  may  be  wholly 
misleading  or  only  partly  so.    It  may  mislead  some 


TEXTILE  TRADE  TERMS 


5 


people  and  not  others.  It  may  merely  arouse  a 
question  in  the  mind  of  the  prospective  purchaser 
which  could  be  answered  by  inquiry  or  investigation 
on  his  part,  or  it  may  actually  mislead  him  in  his 
purchases.  Undoubtedly  some  purchasers  do  not 
exercise  the  minimum  of  judgment  which  may  be 
assumed  in  human  affairs.  Accordingly  the  N.Y.U. 
Bureau  has  adopted  the  following  test.  It  has  taken  a 
group  of  textile  fabrics,  the  names  of  which  are  old 
and  well  established  and  well  known  to  all  women 
of  experience.  It  finds  that  with  great  regularity 
these  terms  are  erroneously  reported  by  a  little 
over  20%  of  the  women  who  filled  in  questionnaires. 
Thus  20%  stated  the  opinion  that  Canton  Flannel 
contains  some  wool.  Twenty-three  per  cent  stated 
the  same  of  Outing  Flannel,  and  20%  thought  that 
Silkateen  contains  some  silk.  This  test  is  confirmed 
by  the  fact  that  22%  stated  that  Artificial  Silk  con- 
tains some  silk  and  that  such  a  term  as  "All  But 
Linen"  designates  a  fabric  which  contains  some  linen. 
These  facts  seem  to  warrant  the  conclusion  that  be- 
tween 20  and  23%  must  be  allowed  as  a  margin  of 
error.  Within  this  23%,  fall  those  who  are  abnor- 
mally ignorant  of  textiles  and  those — always  foufld 
in  a  large  group — who  answer  hastily  or  in  caprice. 
In  dealing  with  the  following  tables,  therefore,  the 
Bureau  has  confidently  concluded  that  when  a  term 
is  misunderstood  by  more  than  23%  it  is  seriously 
misleading,  but  that  when  it  is  misunderstood  by  a 
smaller  percentage,  its  misleading  character  is  less 
serious. 

TRADE  NAMES  WHICH  TEST  SHOWS 
ARE  MISLEADING 

There  is  presented  next  a  list  (List  I.)  of  those 
textile  trade-names  which  are  clearly  and  obviously 
misleading  in  the  sense  that  one  group  having  over 
23%  of  the  replies  stated  their  contents  to  be  one 
material,  while  another  group  also  having  over  23% 
held  them  to  contain  some  other  material.  Regardless 
of  the  actual  content  of  the  fabrics  mentioned  in 
the  following  list,  it  may  be  positively  stated  that 
they  are  seriously  misleading;  for  one  or  the  other 
of  the  two  groups  which  think  it  contains  different 
materials  must  be  wrong. 

This  list  shows  that  out  of  the  100  trade-names  40 
are  clearly  and  necessarily  so  misleading  as  to  be  a 


serious  matter.  The  seriousness  of  the  misleading 
character,  however,  differs  rather  widely,  a  few  cases 
being  on  the  border  line.  Thus,  the  term  Union 
Linen,  which  was  thought  by  exactly  23%  to  con- 
tain all  linen,  might  have  been  omitted,  while 
the  term  French  Linon  and  Taffateen  are  very  mis- 
leading in  that  about  as  many  think  them  to  con- 
tain some  linen  or  some  silk  as  those  who  know 
them  to  be  of  cotton. 

A  generalization  which  applies  to  a  large  per- 
centage of  the  terms  contained  in  the  following  list 
is  that  they  involve  a  mixture  of  materials  as  is 
perhaps  suggested  in  many  of  the  names, — Silk 
Finished  Poplin,  Silk  Lisle,  Economy  Silk,  Woolene, 
etc.  It  is  noteable  that  few  of  the  terms  in  this  list 
were  thought  by  the  women  to  be  all  or  entirely 
composed  of  silk,  wool,  or  linen,  as  the  case  may 
be.  The  confusion,  in  other  words,  comes  from  the 
fact  that  the  terms  suggest  that  they  contain  some 
part  of  the  pure  material  which  they  indicate.  Even 
a  term  like  Wool  Processed  apparently  suggests  to 
the  ultimate  consumer  that  some  wool  must  be  con- 
tained, the  replies  in  this  case  showing  that  while 
only  26%  thought  the  material  to  be  all  wool,  70% 
thought  it  to  contain  some  wool. 

Attention  is  again  called  to  the  fact  that  the 
conclusion  as  to  the  misleading  character  of  the 
following  terms  does  not  depend  upon  the  actual 
content  of  the  fabrics.  In  some  cases  the  majority 
of  the  replies  correctly  designate  the  content,  and  hi 
a  considerable  number  of  cases  a  plurality  does  so. 
The  point  is  that  in  all  cases,  a  group  of  over  23% 
of  the  women  thought  the  fabric  contained  some- 
thing else. 

List  II.  contains  those  textile  trade  names  con- 
tained in  the  Bureau's  questionnaire  which  are 
misleading  in  the  sense  that  over  23%  of  the  women 
gave  replies  as  to  the  content  which  are  at  variance 
with  the  actual  content.  These  names  in  part  dupli- 
cate those  on  the  preceding  list  of  misleading  terms 
but  a  majority  are  in  addition  thereto.  This  fact 
means  that  in  addition  to  the  confusion  arising  from 
difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  content,  there  is  a 
considerable  group  of  terms  concerning  which  a 
serious  proportion  of  consumers  are  misled.  Take 
"Australian  Wool"  for  example:  95%  of  the  women 


LIST  I. 


Textile  Trade  Names  Which  Are  Clearly  Misleading,  Regardless  of 

Actual  Content 
(Two  groups  of  women  have  different  opinions  of  contents,  each  group  being  over  23%  of  the  total.) 
Terms  in  italics  are  doubly  misleading — see  List  II. 

Per  Cent 
naming  one  material 

Baronette  Satin ...51 


Domet  Flannel 47% 

French  Linon 54 

India  Linen _ 73 

Irish  Poplin 56 

Linflax _ 42 

Maisilk - _ 31 

Near  Linen 52 

Nu  Satin  _ _ 40 

Pongeen 39 

Ramie  Linene 56 

Seco  Silk „...38 

Silkataff  _ -.48 


Silk  Finished  Poplin 

Silk  Gingham  

Silkolette  

Silk  Lisle 

Skinner's  Satin 

Soisette  

Subsilk 


Suesenne  Silk 

Surf  Satin  

Taffateen 

Union  Linen  .. 
Velour  Plush  .. 
Velvetta 


64 

57 

54 

—47 

50 

—65 
—43 
......36 

—49 
—45 

23 

—45 
—50 


Velveteen _ - 61 

Woolnap  *  


Per  Cent 

naming   different 

material 

30 

52% 

44 

26 

29 

33 

45 

44 

43 

45 

35 

25 

37 

33 

39 

29 

50 

32 

26 

40 

51 

45 

45 

73 

38 

30 

36 


75  (Some  Wool)    (Some  Cotton)  55 
29  59 


Wool  Processed 26 

Wulsylk 57 

Woolspun    27 

Alajlax — 43 

Aledo  Silk 31 

Boulevard  Velvet 44 

Clachan  Serge _ - 69 

Lingerie  Silk  45 

Pongeea  _ 27 

Suskana  Silk  '. 33 

Tezzo  Silk    „..32 


70 

37** 

65 

28 

36 

37 

24 

37 

40 

26 

28 


•The  manufacturer  has  recently  discontinued  the  use  of  this 
term. 


"Cotton,  Silk  and  Cotton,  Wool  and  Cotton,  Art  silk. 


LIST  II. 

Textile  Trade  Names  Which  Are  Clearly  Misleading  on  the  Basis  of  Actual 

Content 

(A  large  proportion  of  women  think  they  consist  of  material  other  than  that  usually  found  in  them.) 

Consumer's  opin- 
ion as  to  contents 


Actual   Content 

Cotton 
Part  Cotton 
Cotton 

a 

Part  Cotton 
«        << 

Cotton 

« 

Part  Cotton 
a        <« 

Cotton 
Part  Cotton 

a  M 

Cotton 

Artificial  Silk 

Part  Cotton 

Cotton 
« 

a 

Part  Cotton 

Cotton 
n 

Part  Cotton 
Cotton 
Part  Cotton 

"     Silk 
Part  Cptton 
Artificial  Silk 
Cotton  &  Linen* 
Cotton 


Per  Cent  Naming  the  Material 


A  la  flax 

Aledo  Silk      .     . 
Amazon  Silk 
American  Taffeta 
Australian  Wool 
Beauty  Satin 
Boulevard   Velvet 
Brazos   Silk 
Clachan  Serge 
Costume  Velvet 
Deluxknit  Silk 
Dew  Kist  Silk 
Feather  Silk      . 
French  Serge 
Golden  Fleece 
Killarney  Linen 
Kumsi  Kumsa  Silk 
Lingerie  Silk 
Maisilk 
Marvel  Silk 
Nu-satin 
Palmer  Linen 
Persian  Fleece 
Pongeea 
Radio    Silk 
Satin  de  Chine 
Scotch  Linen 
Saxony  Wool 
Suskana  Silk 
Tezzo  Silk     . 
Tricolette 
Union  Linen 
Velour  Plush 
Venetian  Satin 
Woolene 
Wool  processed 
Woolspun 
Wulsylk 

•Content  uncertain;   most  common   usage  is  to   designate  a   fabric  composed  partly  of  cotton  and  partly  of  linen. 


Linen 

43% 

All  - 

-  n% 

All 

or 

Part 

Silk 

31 

M 

67 

(< 

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(( 

49 

11 

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69 

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Wool 

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Wool 

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70 

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tt 

76 

« 

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«< 

48 

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69 

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Wool 

73 

U 

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48 

ll 

71 

(C 

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Linen 

86 

(1 

93 

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Silk 

63 

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tl 

II 

« 

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a 

82 

« 

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« 

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tt 

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CI 

59 

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43 

N 

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Wool 

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tt 

it 

Silk 

27 

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67 

a 

It 

tl 

«i 

66 

(( 

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tt 

ft 

tl 

« 

81 

« 

94 

it 

It 

« 

Linen 

78 

H 

84 

« 

tt 

M 

Wool 

95 

(( 

97 

M 

it 

M 

Silk 

33 

tl 

32 

a 

60 

« 

tt 

M 

tt 

47 

it 

61 

(< 

tl 

C( 

Linen 

23 

tt 

73 

M 

tl 

it 

Silk 

14 

M 

59 

« 

tt 

tt 

a 

51 

II 

69 

M 

tt 

tt 

Wool 

66 

It 

75 

(( 

tt 

tt 

« 

26 

it 

70 

(( 

tl 

tt 

» 

65 

« 

90 

(( 

11 

it 

Silk 

67 

« 

tt 

14 

8 


TEXTILE  TRADE  TERMS 


thought  that  such  a  fabric  would  be  all  wool  and 
accordingly  there  was  little  difference  of  opinion  or 
confusion  arising  from  uncertainty.  But  the  term 
may  be  seriously  misleading  because  the  fabric  form- 
erly sold  under  that  name  contained  some  cotton. 
The  larger  part  of  the  terms  in  the  following  list 
might  or  might  not  have  been  misleading  in  them- 
selves; the  determining  factor  is  the  actual  content 
of  the  goods,  (a) 

The  foregoing  list  contains  38  terms  and  it  may, 
therefore,  be  concluded  that  in  approximately  38% 
of  the  cases  the  women  were  seriously  misled  as  to 
the  actual  content  of  the  goods  sold  under  the 
names  submitted  to  them.  The  16  terms  which  are 
in  italics  are  those  which  are  also  contained  in  the 
first  list  and  these  may,  therefore,  be  said  to  be 
doubly  misleading.  It  will  be  noted,  however,  that 
in  this  part  of  the  list  the  percentages  which  consider 
the  goods  to  be  all  wool,  linen  or  silk  are  very  small 
which  is  due  to  the  fact  already  pointed  out  that  a 
majority  of  the  terms  in  the  first  list  are  mixtures  or 
are  thought  to  be  so,  and  their  misleading  character 
is  largely  due  to  that  fact. 

In  fact,  the  notable  thing  about  the  second  list  is 
that  in  all  cases  a  large  percentage  of  the  consumers 
thought  that  the  textile  products  designated  were 
entirely  composed  of  the  material  suggested  by  the 
name.  Thus,  65%  thought  Dew  Kist  Silk  was  all 
silk,  81%  thought  Satin  de  Chine  was  all  silk,  78% 
thought  Scotch  linen  was  all  linen,  95%  thought 
Saxony  Wool  was  all  wool. 

The  corollary  of  this  situation  is  the  fact  that  the 
great  majority  of  the  terms  in  the  second  list  con- 
tain a  separate  and  unmodified  use  of  the  term 
which  means  a  single  pure  material.  A  glance  at  the 
list  shows  that  in  nearly  all  cases  the  term  ends  with 
such  words  as  wool,  silk,  linen,  fleece,  velvet  and 
satin.  These  words  evidently  suggest  to  the  con- 
sumer that  the  fabric  is  an  all  pure  fabric  containing 
nothing  but  the  material  designated. 

The  Bureau's  questionnaire  contained  the  follow- 
ing question — "Name  any  term,  not  checked  above, 
that  has  misled  you."  In  response  to  this  question 
the  following  textile  terms  were  given,  those  in 
italics  being  mentioned  more  than  once. 


LIST  in. 

Additional  misleading  names  mentioned  by 


consumers. 

♦A.B.C.  Silk  (b) 
♦Carnation  Linen 
*China  Silk 

Damask 

Fibre  Silk 
♦French  Serge 
♦Flaxon 
♦Irish  Linen 
♦Linenized  Percales 
*Linen  Damask 

Persian  Fleece 

Pongeea 
♦Scotch  Serge 
♦Silk  Broadcloth 

Silk  Lisle 

Tricollette 

Venetian  Satin 
♦Wash  Silks 
♦Wear  Test  Wool. 

The  terms  shown  in  italics  are  those  which  were 
mentioned  by  more  than  one  woman. 

A  number  of  these  terms  were  listed  in  the  ques- 
tionnaires, but  those  marked  with  an  asterisk  in  the 
above  list  are  in  addition  to  those  covered  by  the 
Bureau's  list.  Concerning  these  additional  terms 
there  is  nothing  to  be  said  except  that  a  number  of 
women  have  stated  that  they  have  been  misled 
thereby.  Whether  these  are  seriously  misleading  or 
not  this  investigation  does  not  show. 

It  is  of  interest,  however,  to  note  that  a  few  of 
the  terms  specially  mentioned  in  replies  to  question- 
naire are  found  in  the  two  preceding  lists  of  mislead- 
ing terms.  These  are  Persian  Fleece,  Silk  Lisle, 
Tricolette,  Venetian  Satin.  In  a  subsequent  list  it 
will  be  found  that  "Damask"  is  also  mentioned  as  a 
general  term  which  is  unsatisfactory.  It  may,  there- 
fore, be  said  that  there  is  some  reason  for  considering 
these  five  terms  as  especially  troublesome. 

Some  comments  volunteered  by  the  women  who 
filled  in  questionnaires  are  of  interest,  and  are  pre- 

(a)  "With  reference  to  the  determination  of  the  actual  content  the  Bureau  would  here  state  that  with  the  exception  of  the 
terms  indicated  by  an  asterisk,  the  content  is  that  commonly  reported  in  trade  sources  and  no  responsibility  is  assumed 
for  the  classification   here    given.     There   is   a   good  reason,    however,   to  believe  that  the  content   as   designated  is   correct. 

(b)  The   manufacturer    now    designates    this    product    as    A. B.C.  Silk  and  Cotton  Fabric. 


TEXTILE  TRADE  TERMS 


sented  as  throwing  light  on  the  consumer's  under- 
standing of  textile  terms. 

"Fabrics  have  been  so  misnamed  that  now  the 
trade  name  gives  little  clue  to  actual  composition." 
(Washington,  D.  C). 

"Most  of  the  'silks'  and  'silkenes',  etc.  that  are  not 
silk  and  the  linons  and  linenes  which  came  from  the 
cotton  plant — and  wooltex  and  woolettes  that  never 
saw  a  sheep  are  very  misleading.  Damask  used  to 
mean  'Linen'  now  it  means  anything.  One  wearies  of 
constantly  being  led  to  think  a  thing  is  that  which  it 
is  not."    (Chevy  Chase,  Md.) 

"Artificial  silk  is  often  combined  with  real  silk. 
Many  of  these  terms  I  do  not  know."  (Boston 
Mass.) 

s  "I  think  if  the  manufacturers  displayed  more 
common  sense  by  having  fewer  names  for  their 
materials,  they  would  find  the  purchasing  public 
more  content."     (Cambridge,  Mass.) 

"I  have  a  feeling  of  distrust  for  material  with 
which  I  am  not  personally  acquainted — a  feeling 
that  goods  can't  be  judged  by  names  or  by  adver- 
tisement."   (Fort  Wayne,  Indiana.) 

"Personally,  my  common  sense  would  tell  me  that 
some  of  those  silk-sounding,  linen-looking  names 
aren't  as  silk  or  linen  as  they  sound  and  look." 

"If,  however,  I  were  of  a  more  confiding,  trustful 
nature,  I  should  expect  everything  containing  the 
word  'linen'  in  its  trade  name  to  be  all  linen.  The 
same  thing  goes  with  silk  and  wool."  (St.  Louis, 
Mo.) 

Two  hundred  questionnaires  were  sent  to  depart- 
ment stores.  Only  23  replies  were  received.  Of 
these  replies,  about  one-half,  or  to  be  exact  12 
stated  that  they  had  received  no  complaints  from 
customers  and  had  not  themselves  been  misled.  On 
the  other  hand,  nearly  one- third  (7  replies)  stated 
that  complaints  had  been  received  from  customers 
and  6  stated  that  they  had  themselves  been  misled 
by  textile  terms.  The  various  terms  mentioned  by 
this  dealer  questionnaire  as  having  been  misleading 
are  as  follows: 

LIST  IV. 

Misleading  names  reported  by  dealers. 
*A.B.C.  Silk 
Art.  Silk 


LIST  IV.  Continued 

Australian  (as  applied  to  blankets) 

Fibre  Silk 

Kamura  Silk 

Khaki  Kool 

Pongee 

Seco  Silk 
*Silk  Broadcloth 
*Silko 

Tricolette 

Union  Linen 

Woolnap 

Worsted 

The  items  in  italics  are  mentioned  by  two  or  more 
dealers.  Those  marked  with  an  asterisk  are  in 
addition  to  terms  found  in  the  Bureau's  question- 
naire. 

A  number  of  the  terms  given  by  the  dealers 
appear  in  the  lists  of  misleading  terms  as  determined 
by  the  Bureau,  thus  corroborating  the  Bureau's 
findings.    These  are, 

Australian  (as  applied  to  blankets) 

Seco  Silk 

Tricollette 

Union  Linen 

Woolnap 

The  attitude  of  many  retail  dealers  is  indicated  in 
the  following  quotation  from  a  letter  written  by  the 
secretary  of  the  National  Retail  Dry  Goods 
Association: 

"There  has  been  great  activity  in  the  production 
of  other  similar  misleading  names  and  that  process 
goes  on  today  almost  unchecked.  I  assume  the 
great  benefit  from  an  attempt  such  as  you  propose 
would  be  to  bring  about  a  condition  under  which 
such  misleading  terms  would  not  be  tolerated.  From 
time  to  time  the  use  of  these  misleading  trade 
names  gets  a  retailer  into  difficulty,  as  for  example, 
the  Federal  Trade  Commission  recently  has  had 
several  cases  against  Washington,  D.  C.  retail  stores 
for  misleading  advertising  based  upon  the  use  of  such 
trade  names.  It  would  certainly  be  a  relief  to  have 
such  a  possibility  removed." 


10 


TEXTILE  TRADE  TERMS 


TRADE  NAMES  WHICH  ARE  LESS 
THAN  SERIOUSLY  MISLEADING 

The  Bureau  finds  that  a  large  group  of  the  terms 
contained  in  its  questionnaire  do  not  appear  in 
themselves  to  be  seriously  misleading  to  consumers. 
The  lists  which  are  presented  next  are  probably  of 
equal  importance  with  those  which  precede.  Cer- 
tainly it  is  just  as  helpful  toward  arriving  at  a 
solution  of  the  problem  presented  by  misleading 
textile  terms  to  know  which  ones  are  not  seriously 
misleading  as  to  know  which  ones  are. 

The  following  statement  shows  two  lists.  The 
first  column  contains  terms  concerning  which  there 
was  no  serious  difference  of  opinion,  that  is  to  say, 


not  over  23%  of  the  replies  differed  from  those  of  the 
majority  in  expressing  an  opinion  as  to  the  content 
of  the  textiles  designated.  The  second  column  con- 
tains a  list  of  those  terms  in  which  over  50%  of  the 
replies  were  in  agreement  with  the  actual  content  of 
the  product  named.  Consequently,  it  may  be  stated 
that  the  consumers  were  not  seriously  misled  by 
these  terms.  Those  terms  which  are  mentioned  in 
both  lists  are  shown  in  italics. 

While  by  actual  tests  these  terms  do  not  mislead 
more  than  23%,  some  on  their  face  are  inaccurate 
and  can  easily  deceive  the  uninformed.  It  is  a  harm- 
ful corruption  of  human  speech  or  language  to  take 
terms  which  clearly  mean  one  thing  and  use  them 
to  indicate  another  thing  which  is  an  inferior 
substitute. 


LIST  V. 

List  of  Textile  Terms  Found  Not  To  Be  Seriously  Misleading 


No  serious  difference  of  opinion 
among  consumers  as  to  contents 

Ail-But  Linen 
♦(American  Silk) 

Aeroplane  linen 

Art.  Silk 

Boudoir  Silk 

Brilliant  Satine 

Canton  Flannel 

Canton  Silk 

Economy  Silk 

French  Flannel  (a) 

French  linen 

Georgette  silk 

Gloveskin  Woolens 

India  linen 

Italian  silk 

Jap  silk 
♦(Lackawanna  wool) 

Linene 

Linenized  cretonnes 

Lin-N-like 

Linonette 

Marronette  silk 

Mohcilque 

Outing  flannel 

Satin  Charmeuse   ■ 

Shantung  silk 

Silkaline  (b) 

Silkateen 

Silkine 

Soisette  (e) 

Taffeta  plaid 


•These   terms   are   uncertain   as   to   classification,   as  the   Bureau 

(a)  French  flannel  is  often  part  cotton.     Sample  analyzed  by  the 

(b)  24%  thought  some  silk  was  contained. 

(c)  26%  thought  some  silk  was  contained. 


Not  over  23%  misled  on  basis 
of  actual  content 

Ail-But  Linen 
Aeroplane  Linen 
Boudoir  Silk 
Brilliant  Satine 
Canton  Flannel 
Canton  Silk 
Economy  Silk 
French  flannel  (a) 
Georgette  silk 
Gloveskin  Woolens 
India  linen 
Italian  silk 
Jap  silk 
Khaki-kool 
Linene 

Linenized  cretonnes 
Linflax  suitings 
Lin-N-like 
Linonette 
Marronette  silk 
Mohcilque 
Near  linen 
Outing  flannel 
Satin  Charmeuse 
Shantung  silk 
Silkaline 
Silkateen 
Silkine 
Soisette 
Taffeta  plaid 
Tub  silk 

is  not  advised  as  to  the  content  of  the  fabrics. 
Bureau,  however,  was  all  wool. 


12 


TEXTILE  TRADE  TERMS 


It  should  first  be  noted  that  the  first  column  con- 
tains terms  which  do  not  appear  to  be  misleading 
for  the  reason  that  there  is  no  important  difference 
of  opinion  concerning  the  content  of  the  fabric 
designated  and  does  not  contain  any  terms  which 
are  found  to  be  actually  misleading  to  the  majority. 
That  is,  those  terms  in  which  a  majority  were  misled 
on  the  basis  of  actual  content  are  not  included,  even 
though  there  was  substantial  unanimity  of  opinion. 
This  is  obviously  logical  inasmuch  as  the  purpose  of 
the  list  is  to  present  only  terms  which  are  not  ser- 
iously misleading. 

Recent  Federal  Trade  Commission  rulings  on  Silk- 
aline  and  Art  Silk  show  that  the  23%  margin 
adopted  in  this  report,  is  conservative. 

A  study  of  the  lists  will  show  that  there  are  31 
terms  concerning  which  there  appears  to  be  no 
serious  confusion  in  the  minds  of  consumers  and 
32  terms  which  did  not  actually  mislead  consumers. 
The  italicized  terms,  which  are  those  that  appear  in 
both  lists,  number  28,  and  it  may  be  concluded  with 
especial  confidence  that  these  28  terms  are  only 
mildly  misleading. 

The  8  terms  which  appear  only  in  one  of  the  lists 
are  doubtful  and  may  be  more  or  less  seriously 
misleading.* 

It  is  important  to  inquire  the  reasons  why  these 
28  terms  were  not  misleading  to  over  500  women 
who  replied  to  the  questionnaire. 

Part  of  the  terms  did  not  mislead  for  the  reason 
that  long  usage  has  established  in  the  public  mind 
an  understanding  of  the  true  content  of  the  fabrics 
designated.  Among  these  terms  are:  Canton 
Flannel,  India  Linen,  Outing  Flannel,  Silkaline,  and 
possibly  French  Linen. 

In  some  cases  extensive  advertising  or  other 
publicity  which  included  a  true  statement  of  con- 
tents, appears  to  have  helped  avoid  deception.  Such 
terms  may  include  "Irish  Poplin,"  "Economy 
Silk,"  and  "Linene."  The  term  Seco  Silk  (now  dis- 
continued by  the  manufacturer)  was  found  to  be 
only  slightly  misleading,  for  the  same  reason. 

Such  cases  do  not  appear  to  give  a  precedent  for 
the  adoption  of  similar  terms  in  the  future.  The 
fact  that  persistent  advertising  and  explanation  has 


♦(American  Silk,  Art  Silk,  Boudoir  Silk,  Khaki-kool  Silk, 
Lackawanna  Wool,  Linflax  suitings,  Near  linen,  Tub  Silk.) 


been  necessary  to  establish  in  the  minds  of  con- 
sumers the  true  content  of  the  fabrics,  is,  in  itself, 
proof  that  the  terms  are  inherently  misleading. 

In  other  cases  the  non-misleading  character  of  the 
term  is  due  to  the  fact  that  it  gives  sufficient  indica- 
tion of  the  true  content  of  the  fabric  to  which  it  is 
applied.  Such  terms  are:  AH -but-Linen,  Brilliant 
Satine,  Linene,  Linenized  Cretonnes,  Lin-N-Like, 
Silkine,  etc. 

The  means  and  degree  of  indication  in  such  cases 
as  the  foregoing,  differ.  ( 1 )  A  fabric  which  is  all- 
pure  silk,  wool,  or  linen,  has  its  content  correctly 
indicated  by  calling  it  "silk;"  "wool,"  or  "linen"  as 
the  case  may  be.  Thus,  "Italian  Silk,"  "Gloveskin 
Woolens,"  and  "Aeroplane  Linen"  are  not  mislead- 
ing, barring  fraudulent  use.  (2)  Terms  which  ob- 
viously imply  mere  resemblance  to  silk,  wool,  or 
linen,  may  not  be  misleading.  This  is  found  to  be 
true  of  "Lin-N-Like"  and  "Linenized  Cretonne."  (3) 
Some  terms  are  not  misleading  for  the  reason  that 
they  indicate  by  their  form  that  they  are  of  cotton. 
Such  terms  are  "Brilliant  Satine,"  "Linonette," 
"Silkine,"  and  "Silkatine."  It  seems  reasonably  clear 
that  the  "ine"  or  "een"  type  of  ending,  when  added 
to  the  work  "silk,"  "satin"  or  "velvet,"  is  recognized 
by  a  majority  of  persons  as  indicating  a  cotton 
fabric.  In  the  case  of  linen  and  wool,  this  is  not  so 
clear.  The  difference  would  appear  to  be  due  to  the 
long  use  of  "Sateen,"  "Velveteen"  and  "Silkaline"  to 
designate  cotton  fabrics. 

In  connection  with  the  analysis  of  non-misleading 
terms,  the  Bureau  finds  that  certain  trade  terms  are 
only  misleading  as  to  a  part  of  the  contents  of  the 
fabric  designated.  This  fact  is  of  interest,  for  it 
shows  degrees  in  the  misleading  effect  of  terms,  and 
throws  light  on  the  causes  of  deception.  These 
partially  misleading  terms  are  shown  in  the  following 
list,  those  in  italics  not  being  seriously  misleading. 

Terms  Misleading  Only  as  to  part  of  Content 
(Under  10  persons  saying  all  silk,  wool,  etc.) 
Art.  Silk 

Linenized  Cretonnes 
Linonette 
Near  Linen 
Silkateen 

Silk  Finished  Poplin 
Silkaline 


TEXTILE  TRADE  TERMS 


13 


Silkine 

Silkolette 

Linene 

Lin-N-Like 

Mohcilque 

Subsilk 

Velvetta 

Velveteen 

Wulsylk 

The  Consumer's  Understanding  of  the 
General  Trade  Terms  Commonly  Used 
to  Designate  Textiles 
The  foregoing  lists  of  names  are  all  taken  from 
the  Bureau's  questionnaire  which  purported  to  con- 
tain trade  names  of  the  type  which  are  commonly 
trade  marked.  With  but  few  exceptions  they  are 
brands,  and  the  essential  feature  is  not  a  general 
trade  designation  of  some  weave  or  finish.  The 
following  list  includes  only  the  more  general  trade 
terms  which  designate  some  weave  or  finish  or 
material  which  any  one  is  free  to  use,  such, 
for  example,  as  Alpaca,  Batiste,  Brocade,  Satin,  etc. 
The  significance  of  this  second  group  of  terms  lies 
in  the  fact  that  there  is  great  confusion  especially 
among  consumers,  as  to  what  various  terms  mean. 
It  is  thought  to  be  a  valuable  service  to  determine 
once  for  all  what  the  average  woman  thinks  such 
materials  as  satin,  serge  and  flannel  are,  and  it  is 
hoped  that  such  a  determination  will  help  lay  the 
basis  for  a  more  standardized  trade  terminology. 


Many  of  these  terms  have  been  in  use  for  a  long 
time  and  it  may  not  be  possible  to  alter  trade  custom 
to  the  extent  of  abolishing,  changing  or  standardizing 
them.  By  squarely  confronting  the  facts,  however, 
it  is  possible  that  by  the  use  of  modifying  terms  the 
existing  confusion  may  be  reduced  to  a  minimum. 
The  Bureau  would  emphasize  the  fact  that  while 
through  long  usage  a  general  understanding  of  the 
meaning  may  be  established,  the  adoption  of  new 
similar  terms  would  be  misleading.  Investigation 
shows  that  young  women  who  have  not  had  experi- 
ence in  buying  or  using  textiles  often  do  not  know 
the  true  content  even  of  "Canton  Flannel,"  "India 
Linen,"  etc.  While  therefore,  it  may  be  practically 
expedient  to  retain  those  terms,  the  true  significance 
of  which  has  become  established,  the  adoption  of 
similar  terms  would  be  misleading. 

It  is  recommended  that  such  terms  be  used  in 
advertising  only  when  accompanied  by  a  word 
designating  actual  content. 

An  examination  of  the  following  table  shows  that 
serious  confusion  exists  with  regard  to  a  number  of 
the  terms  contained.  "Silk  Lisle,"  which  has  al- 
ready been  mentioned  among  the  misleading  trade 
terms,  is  thought  to  contain  silk  by  over  50%  of 
those  who  replied.  In  the  case  of  "Taffateen"  42% 
thought  it  was  a  silk  and  cotton  fabric  and  3% 
more  thought  it  was  silk  and  wool;  consequently  the 
total  of  45%  thought  it  contained  some  silk.  Tussah, 
which  appears  to  be  a  fabric  composed  of  wild  silk 
and  cotton,  was  thought  to  be  of  silk  by  55%. 
While  43%  thought  crepe  to  be  all  cotton,  18% 
thought  it  all  or  part  silk. 


LIST  VI. 

List  of  Basic  Textile  Trade  Terms  Showing  What  Materials  Consumers  Think 

They  Indicate 

Chief  Material  Per  Cent 

Reported  So  Reporting 

Alpaca All  Wool S2fo 

Batiste All  Cotton 80 

Brocade .All  Silk 35 

Canton  Flannel All  Cotton  . ..73 

Chiffon All  Silk 76 

Crepe All  Cotton 43 

Crepe  De  Chine All  Silk 84 

Damask All  Linen 62 

Duvetyn        All  Wool 33 

Fibre  Silk Artificial  Silk 69 

Flannel All  Wool 72 

Foulard All  Silk 65 

Georgette  Crepe All  Silk 67 

Linene All  Cotton 61 

Outing  Flannel       All  Cotton 77 

Plush Silk  &  Cotton 45 

Pongee All  Silk 66 

Poplin All  Cotton 21 

Sateen       All  Cotton 75 

Satin All  Silk 72 

Serge All  Wool 75 

Shantung  silk All  Silk 66 

Silk  Lisle Silk  &  Cotton 57 

Taffeta All  Silk 89  , 

Taffateen       Silk  &  Cotton 42 

Tulle All  Silk 61 

Tussah All  Silk 55 

Tweed All  Wool 65 

Velour All  Wool 38 

Velvet All  Silk 45 

Velveteen All  Cotton 52 

Voile All  Cotton 72 

Worsted All  Wool 71 


TEXTILE  TRADE  TERMS 


15 


The  following  terms  show  considerable  confusion  in  the  minds  of  consumers. 


LIST  VII. 

Fabric 

names 

which  are  especially 

confusing. 

Brocade 

Linene 

Taffateen 

Crepe 

Plush 

Tussah 

Damask 

Poplin 

Velour 

Duvetyn 

Silk  Lisle 

Only  the  opinion  held  by  the  greatest  number  is  shown  in  List  VI,  but  the  detailed  facts  with  regard 
to  the  fabrics  just  mentioned  are  shown  in  the  following  supplementary  statement: 


.     LIST  VIII. 

PERCENTAGE  OF  REPLIES 

Fabric 

All 

Silk 

AU 

Wool 

All 
Cotton 

All 
Linen 

Part 

Silk 

Part 
Wool 

Part 
Linen 

Merely 

Finish 

or  Weave 

Brocade 

35 
12 

9.6 

16 

9.8 

5.5 

2 
55 

8.5 

1.7 

33 

4.4 
2.7 

2 
38 

3.4 

43 
5.7 
1.7 

61 
7 

22 

23 

40 
1.7 
2.5 

62 

19 

6 

1.8 
30 

45 
27 
52 
43 
22 
22 

5 

31 

6.7 
8 

7 

4 

28 

1.7 

20 
11 
11 

5.2 

4.8 

7 

3.7 

4.8 

9 

4 

6 

Crepe 

Damask 

Duvetyn 

Linene 

Plush 

Poplin 

Silk  Lisle 

Taffateen 

♦Tussah 

Velour 

♦9.2%  think  Tussah  is  artificial  silk. 


It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  in  the  case  of  all  the  foregoing  fabrics,  an  unusually  large  number  of  replies 
indicated  that  no  opinion  was  held  regarding  the  content.  A  large  number  checked  the  "Don't  know" 
column.  This  was  particularly  true  of  Brocade,  Duvetyn,  Plush,  Taffateen,  Tussah,  Silk  Lisle,  Velour. 
Clearly  it  is  of  special  importance  that  these  seven  terms  should  be  accompanied  by  some  explanatory 
word  or  words  to  indicate  true  content. 


16 


TEXTILE  TRADE  TERMS 


Types  of  Misleading  Textile  Terms 

An  examination  of  the  various  terms  included  in  the  Bureau's  lists  shows  that  various  ideas  lie  back 
of  those  terms  and  that  they  may  be  grouped  into  a  number  of  distinct  classes.  This  group  might  be  made 
on  different  bases  but  the  following  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  situation. 


The  Chief  Groups 


I. 


Names  containing  the 
name  of  a  single  pure 
textile  material  without 
modification. 


of  Textile  Trade  Names 

American  Silk 


II. 


Name  of  a  single  ma- 
terial joined  with  a 
descriptive  term  calcu- 
lated to  indicate  some- 
thing as  to  the  nature 
of  the  fabric  or  its 
content. 


Australian  Wool 

China  Silk 

French  Linen 

French  Linon 

French  Serge 

1.  Name  joined  with  a  separ- 

India Linen 

ate  name  of  a  country  or  -< 

Irish  Linen 

foreign  term. 

Irish  Poplin 

Italian  Silk 

Kamura  Silk 

Killarney  Linen 

Kumsi  Kumsa  Silk 

Suesenne  Silk 

,  Venetian  Satin 

r  A.B.C.  Silk 

Aledo  Silk 

Amazon  Silk 

Beauty  Satin 

2.  Name  joined  with  separate 

Boulevard  Velvet 

trade  name  which  gives  no  < 

Carnation  Linen 

indication  of  content. 

Domet  Flannel 

Georgette  Silk 

Hero  Flannel 

Skinner's  Satin 

Union  Linen 

'  Art.  Silk 

Deluxknit  Silk 

Economy  Silk 

Feather  Silk 

Fibre  Silk 

Khaki-Kool 

1.  The   modifying   term 

Near  Linen 

separate. 

Nu-Satin 

Tub  silk 

Weartex  Serge 

Costume  Velvet 

Lingerie  Silk 

Scarf  Satin 

Surf  Satin 

2.  The  modifying  name  com- 

Subsilk 

bined  with  basic  term. 

Sportsilk 

TEXTILE  TRADE  TERMS 


17 


III.   Name  of  a  single  ma- 
terial   modified   by    a  -i 
diminutive  ending. 


V. 


VI. 


IV.    Name     composed      of 
combination     of     two  < 
materials. 


Names   indicating  ap- 
pearance or  finish. 


Names    indicating   the 
raw  material. 


Linene 

Linonette 

Pongeen 

Silkateen 

Silkine 

Silko 

Silkolette 

Taffateen 

Veldyne 

Velveteen 

Velvetta 

Wooleen 

Mohcilque 
Ramie  Linene 
Silk  Gingham 
Silk  Lisle 
Velour  Plush 
Wulsylk 

Krepe  Knit 
Lin-N-Like 
Linenized  Cretonnes 
Linenized  Percale 
Silk  finished  poplin 
Wool  processed 
Woolnap 
Woolspun 
Wooltex 

Alaflax 

Australian  Wool 
Flaxon 

Golden  Fleece 
Linflax 
Persian  Fleece 


VII.  Names     containing     a 

combination  of  raw 
material  and  a  fabric 
generally  woven  from 
the  same  material. 

VIII.  Names  based  on  a  gen- 
eral term  such  as 
"cloth." 


•  r 


Silkataff 
Linflax 


Beach  Cloth 
Kelly  Kloth 
Kool  Kloth 
Kitten's  Ear  Cloth 


18 


TEXTILE  TRADE  TERMS 


One  point  of  interest  in  the  various  trade  names 
is  the  practice  of  misspelling.  The  terms  might  be 
all  divided  into  two  groups  on  this  basis.  An  illus- 
trative list  of  those  names  in  which  liberties  are 
taken  with  spelling  is  as  follows: 

Art  Silk 

French  Linon 

Kool  Kloth 

Linonette 

Lin-N-Like 

Mohcilque 
The  term  "Art  Silk"  is  mentioned,  as  it  is  correctly 
written  "Art.  Silk,"  being  an  abbreviation  of  "Arti- 
ficial Silk."    When  misspelled,  this  term  is  as  clearly 
misleading. 

GENERAL  PRINCIPLES 

A  study  of  the  lists  of  those  terms  which  are  found 
to  be  misleading  and  those  found  not  to  be  mislead- 
ing makes  it  possible  to  draw  certain  general  con- 
clusions which  may  serve  as  the  basis  for  determ- 
ining the  correct  usage  in  this  regard.  These  con- 
clusions are  tentatively  formulated  in  the  following 
paragraphs. 

(1.)  When  such  terms  as  silk,  wool  and  linen  are 
essentially  unmodified  they  can  have  only  one 
general  meaning — they  must  indicate  an  all-pure 
material.  This  is  true  both  in  law  and  in  ethics, 
and  the  results  of  the  Bureau's  investigation  show 
that  consumers  in  fact  have  the  same  opinion. 

In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note  the 
basis  of  reasoning  used  by  the  the  Federal  Trade 
Commission.  "The  word  silk  when  applied  to  thread 
or  textile  goods  both  in  the  technical  and  popular 
usage,  has  a  precise  and  exact  meaning  and  is  only 
accurately  and  properly  used  in  identifying  and 
describing  materials  derived  from  the  cocoon  of  the 
silk  worm."  This  establishes  an  unequivocal  prin- 
ciple which  not  only  applies  to  silk  but  all  standard 
fabrics. 

(2.)  When  a  term  which  primarily  indicates  some 
weave  or  finish  which  by  custom  comes  also  to 
indicate  a  kind  of  material  such  as  silk,  wool  or 
linen,  the  foregoing  statement  applies.  That  is,  such 
terms  should  denote  an  all-pure  material  content. 
Such  terms  are:  Chiffon,  Foulard,  Georgette,  Pon- 
gee, Satin,  Taffeta,  Tulle,  Tussah,  Velvet,  all  of 


which  denote  silk;  and  Alpaca,  Flannel,  Serge, 
Tweed,  worsted,  all  of  which  denote  wool.  Damask 
denotes  linen. 

Even  within  the  all-pure  materials  there  may  be  a 
considerable  range  as  to  grade  or  quality.  For 
example,  all-pure  silk  may  under  present  conditions 
be  wild  silk,  thread  silk,  filled  silk  or  any  one  of  a 
considerable  number  of  similar  descriptions.  This 
condition  is  not  desirable,  but  under  present  trade 
arrangements  the  Bureau  is  not  prepared  to  draw 
definite  conclusions.  It  is  merely  suggested  that 
careful  manufacturers  and  dealers  will  indicate  in 
their  descriptions  the  grade  or  quality  of  the  material 
contained. 

(3.)  The  use,  in  connection  with  the  name  of  a 
fabric,  of  colorless  firm  or  brand  names,  or  names  of 
countries  which  have  no  special  significance,  does  not 
affect  the  significance  of  the  basic  term.  Such  a 
use  does  not  affect  the  responsibility  of  the  manufac- 
turer or  dealer  who  sells  a  product  as  silk,  wool  or 
linen  nor  modify  the  conclusion  that  the  fabric  is 
all-pure.  This  observation  applies  to  such  names  as, 
Aledo  Silk,  Australian  Wool,  Carnation  Linen,  China 
Silk,  Italian  Silk,  Seco  Silk,  Skinner's  Satin.  Such 
brand  names  do  not  essentially  modify  the  name  of 
the  basic  material. 

Two  special  points,  however,  may  be  made  with 
regard  to  the  use  of  the  name  of  a  country: 

(a)  The  name  of  a  foreign  country  used  to 
modify  some  basic  term  such  as  silk,  wool  or  linen 
may  reasonably  be  assumed  to  indicate  that  the 
fabric  so  designated  is  produced  in  the  foreign  coun- 
try named  and  accordingly  is  apt  to  be  misleading 
when  in  reality  the  fabric  is  made  in  the  United 
States.  This  is  true  even  when  the  raw  material 
comes  from  the  foreign  country  named  and  the  weave 
or  finish  is  like  the  product  of  the  said  foreign 
country;  for  the  term  silk,  wool  or  linen  as  applied 
to  a  woven  textile  product  indicates  the  finished 
fabric.  Accordingly,  such  terms  as  Irish  Poplin, 
India  Linen,  Italian  Silk,  English  Broadcloth,  and 
other  well-known  combinations  of  this  order  are  in 
the  Bureau's  opinion  undesirable  and  should  be  dis- 
couraged by  the  textile  trade. 

(b)  The  use  of  the  name  of  a  foreign  country 
may  make  a  textile  term  doubly  misleading  in  case 
that  country  is  one  well-known  to  produce  a  high- 


TEXTILE  TRADE  TERMS 


19 


grade  or  characteristic  fabric  which  might  be  con- 
fused with  the  product  sold  under  the  trade  name. 
In  the  term  Persian  Fleece,  for  example,  a  country 
is  named  which  is  well-known  for  fine  wool.  The 
use  of  the  word  Irish  in  connection  with  linen  fabrics 
has  a  special  significance,  as  is  also  the  case  with 
Italian  names  when  coupled  with  silk,  such  as 
Venetian  Satin. 

(4.)  When  the  fabric  to  be  named  is  not  an  all- 
pure  material,  the  words  silk,  wool,  and  linen  must 
be  essentially  modified  if  they  are  not  to  be  mislead- 
ing. It  is  a  vital  question,  then,  to  inquire  what  con- 
stitutes an  essential  modification  appropriate  to  cover 
fabrics  which  are  not  all-pure.  The  Bureau's  investi- 
gation of  textile  terms  indicates  the  various  methods 
that  have  been  used,  such  as,  modification  of  spelling, 
addition  of  diminutive  endings,  and  the  joining  with 
other  words  which  to  some  extent  indicate  the 
content,  appearance,  or  use  of  the  fabric. 

One  conclusion  which  stands  out  clearly  is  that 
any  fabric  which  bears  a  name  containing  the  words 
silk,  wool,  or  linen  (or  such  names  as  satin,  serge, 
velvet,  or  worsted)  which  are  not  essentially  modi- 
fied, will  be  thought  by  consumers  to  be  all-pure, 
with  rare  exceptions  established  by  long  usage.  As 
already  indicated,  the  addition  of  a  firm  name  or  a 
meaningless  brand  name  does  not  constitute  an 
essential  modification. 

VARIABLE  ELEMENTS  IN  TEXTILE 
FABRICS 

The  several  factors  as  to  which  fabrics  may  vary 
and  which  may  accordingly  be  made  the  basis  either 
for  a  correct  modification  of  the  basic  term,  or  for  a 
misleading  terminology,  are  the  following: 

(1)  Material  content 

(2)  Weave  or  finish 

(3)  Appearance 

(4)  Use  or  adaptation  for 
special  purposes. 

(5)  Economy 

(6)  "Quality"  (Workman- 

ship, weight,  etc.) 

It  follows  that  any  manufacturer  or  dealer  who 

desires  to  describe  his  product  must  consider  one  or 

more  of  these  factors  in  choosing  a  name  which  is 

to  be  descriptive  and  essentially  to  modify  any  basic 


word  such  as  silk,  wool  or  linen.  When  modification 
is  in  the  interest  of  truth  and  service  to  the  consumer 
it  will  accurately  describe  the  fabric. 

To  avoid  misleading  consumers  when  the  question 
involved  is  one  of  material  content,  it  is  clearly 
necessary  that  the  name  should  correctly  indicate 
the  material  or  mixture  of  materials.  How  definite 
an  indication  of  the  content  may  be  necessary  de- 
pends on  circumstances.  One  important  point  to 
note  is  that  if  some  general  term  such  as  satin,  vel 
vet,  or  poplin  forms  the  basis  of  the  name,  it  is 
essential  that  the  material  contained  be  definitely 
indicated;  for  such  fabrics  as  those  named  and 
others  listed  on  page  14  are  shown  by  this  investiga- 
tion to  be  very  confusing  to  consumers.  Accordingly, 
it  should  be  indicated  whether  the  poplin  is  cotton, 
linen  or  woolen  poplin ;  whether  the  velvet  is  silk,  or 
cotton,  or  cotton  back,  etc.  Another  point  to  note 
is  that  in  some  cases,  at  least,  the  ending  "ine"  or 
"ene"  or  "een"  may  suffice  to  indicate  a  cotton 
mixture  or  even  an  all  cotton  material.  Thus,  such 
terms,  as  silkine,  sateen  and  linene,  while  misleading, 
are  not  seriously  misleading. 

When  the  question  involved  is  not  one  of  material 
content  but  of  form  (weave,  appearance,  etc.)  it  is  a 
general  rule  that  care  is  necessary  that  the  term  used 
should  not  indicate  a  material  content  which  the 
fabric  does  not  actually  have.  For  illustration,  the 
term  "Scotch  Linen"  is  bad  for  the  reason  that  it 
indicates  a  linen  content  while  as  a  matter  of  fact 
the  material  so  named  is  made  entirely  of  cotton  and 
is  merely  finished  to  resemble  linen. 

A  less  objectionable  usage  is  suggested  by  the 
term  "Lin-N-Like,"  for  this  term  does  not  suggest 
that  the  fabric  is  made  of  linen  but  merely  that  it  is 
made  to  look  like  linen.  (Lin-N-Like,  however, 
should  be  sold  for  what  it  is,  cotton,  and  no  attempt 
should  be  made  to  trade  on  a  better  product  by  simu- 
lating its  name.)  Similarly,  when  the  question  is  one 
of  the  use  or  adaptation  for  a  special  purpose,  the 
term  should  not  wrongly  indicate  content.  "Surf 
Satin"  and  "Costume  Velvet"  are  bad  because  they 
mislead  the  consumer  by  implying  that  the  fabrics 
are  made  of  silk  and  the  terms  "Surf"  and  "Cos- 
tume" do  not  give  any  warning.  Of  course,  if  the 
fabrics  are  actually  made  of  silk,  (e.  g.,  "Boudoir 
Silk,,  and  "Tub  Silk,")  no  question  is  involved. 


20 


TEXTILE  TRADE  TERMS 


It  is  desirable  in  such  cases  as  those  just  men- 
tioned to  use  as  a  base  term  for  fabrics  which  are  not 
all-pure  silk,  linen,  or  wool,  some  general  term  such 
as  "cloth,"  or  "fabric."  An  illustration  of  correct 
usage  of  this  sort  would  be  the  term  "Beach  Cloth" 
and  "Kool  Kloth"  which  do  not  indicate  to  the  con- 
sumer that  they  are  made  of  wool  or  linen. 

An  outstanding  point  made  by  the  evidence  of  the 
questionnaires  is  the  fact  that  terms  implying  re- 
semblance are  dangerous  and  require  great  care  if 
they  are  not  to  be  misleading.  Among  the  mislead- 
ing terms  are,  "Near  Linen,"  "Woolspun,"  and 
"Wool  processed."  Abstractly  considered,  one  might 
think  these  terms  innocuous,  on  the  ground  that 
they  only  claim  some  resemblance  to  the  materials 
named.  A  large  part  of  the  women  who  replied  to 
the  questionnaire,  however,  thought  the  fabrics  to 
contain  some  of  the  material  named.  Apparently, 
their  idea  is  that  to  be  "Near  Linen,"  the  fabric 
must  contain  at  least  a  little  linen,  and  to  be  "Wool 
Processed"  the  goods  must  be  part  wool. 

The  motives  which  lead  to  departure  from  the 
foregoing  principles  are  of  interest  and  these  seem 
to  be  reducible  to  three: 

1.  A  desire  to  sell  some  cheap  material  at  the 
price  of  a  more  valuable  material. 

2.  A  desire  to  make  some  cheap  material  attrac- 
tive without  selling  it  at  an  unreasonably  high  price. 

3.  A  desire  to  identify  some  special  fabric. 
With  reference  to  the  first  of  these  motives  it  may 

be  concluded  that,  where  it  is  uppermost,  the  term 
adopted  to  designate  the  fabrics  concerned  will 
always  be  misleading.  It  is  this  motive  which  often 
leads  manufacturers  or  dealers  to  sell  goods  which 
are  all  or  part  cotton  as  silks,  linens,  or  woolens. 
Illustrations  of  this  charge  appear  in  the  use  of  such 
terms  as  "American  Taffeta,"  "Australian  Wool," 
"Boulevard  Velvet,"  and  several  others  which  can  be 
found  in  the  list  of  misleading  terms  on  pages  6  &  7. 
Unfortunately,  however,  long  custom  has  estab- 
lished the  use  of  some  terms,  as  "India  Linen"  and 
"Canton  Flannel,"  which  while  they  may  have 
originally  been  introduced  under  the  first  motive, 
are  now  general  terms  which  are  understood  by  the 
great  majority  of  consumers.  Moreover,  it  seems 
probable  that  for  lack  of  vocabulary  or  other  honest 
motive  some  fabrics  have  been  given  names  which 


imply  a  more  expensive  material  than  that  of  which 
they  are  really  composed,  but  are  sold  at  reasonable 
prices  based  on  actual  content.  The  fact  that  much 
continuous  effort  has  been  required  to  overcome  the 
inherent  misleading  character  of  the  terms  shows  that 
they  intend  to  mislead.  It  is  possible  to  render  men 
and  animals  immune  to  many  poisons  by  inoculation. 
Nevertheless,  the  poisons  are  still  poisonous.  In  the 
same  way,  new  terms  similar  to  "Canton  Flannel," 
and  "Economy  Silk,"  would  be  misleading,  and  the 
old  terms  do  not  appear  to  furnish  a  precedent  which 
can  justify  their  adoption. 

This  suggests  the  second  motive,  the  desire  to 
make  some  cheaper  material  appear  attractive  with- 
out charging  an  undue  price  therefor.  This  motive 
may  or  may  not  lead  to  the  use  of  misleading  trade 
terms,  although  it  must  frequently  do  so.  It  is 
perhaps  illustrated  by  the  term  "Economy  Silk," 
which  is  a  fabric  composed  partly  of  silk  and  partly 
of  cotton.  Undoubtedly  those  responsible  for  this 
name  thought  it  would  make  a  stronger  appeal  if 
called  a  "silk"  than  if  it  were  merely  called  by 
some  general  term  such  as  "Economy  Fabric."  Such 
terms  as  Skinner's  Satin  and  Woolnap  may  also  be 
mentioned,  both  of  which  are  misleading. 

The  third  motive,  which  is  merely  to  identify  some 
special  fabric,  may  or  may  not  result  in  the  use  of 
misleading  terms,  depending  upon  whether  or  not 
the  term  adopted  conforms  with  the  principles  laid 
down  on  pages  18-19.  The  ground  of  identification 
may  be  weave  or  finish,  special  mixture  or  combina- 
tion of  materials,  quality  of  material  or  workman- 
ship, or  merely  a  distinctive,  and  in  no  sense  mis- 
leading name,  or  something  else.  The  simple  prin- 
ciple which  should  guide  in  determining  the  name  is 
that  it  should  not  give  an  incorrect  indication  as  to 
the  nature  of  the  material.  The  trade  marked  names 
"Dew  Kist,'"  "Palm  Beach,"  "Khaki-Kool"  and 
"Fruit  of  the  Loom,"  are  terms  calculated  to  identify 
the  fabrics  sold  under  those  names  without  conveying 
any  misleading  impressions.  When,  however,  a 
product  is  called  "Suskana  Silk,"  "Nu-Satin,"  "Satin 
de  Chine,"  "Venetian  Satin,"  or  "Wulsylk,"  the 
authors  of  the  terms  exceed  the  bounds  of  mere 
identification  and  convey  the  idea  that  cotton  fabrics 
are  at  least  partly  silk.  Of  course,  common  honesty 
is  involved  in  this  matter.    Even  when  joined  with 


TEXTILE  TRADE  TERMS 


21 


the  word  silk,  Khaki-Kool  is  not  misleading  because 
it  designates  a  pongee  silk  suiting;  while  Kumsi 
Kumsa,  when  joined  with  the  word  silk,  is  mislead- 
ing, because  under  that  name  a  product  composed  of 
artificial  silk  is  sold. 

SUMMARY  OF  CONCLUSIONS 

A  group  of  principles  or  general  conclusions  based 
on  the  Bureau's  research  may  be  formulated  as 
follows: 

( 1 )  Terms  such  as  silk,  wool,  and  linen,  if  they 
are  not  to  be  misleading,  must  be  confined  to  fabrics 
which  contain  nothing  but  the  pure  material 
specified. 

(2)  Terms  indicating  a  fabric  which  has  a  cer- 
tain weave  or  finish,  but  which  may  contain  any  one 
of  several  different  materials,  if  they  are  not  to  be 
misleading,  must  be  accompanied  by  words  which 
correctly  indicate  the  content.  Such  terms  are  Bro- 
cade, Duvetyn,  Poplin,  Plush,  Taffeta,  Tussah, 
Velour,  and  others. 

(3)  Terms  which  indicate  a  combination  of 
materials  are  especially  apt  to  be  misleading  and  re- 
quire especial  care.  This  is  true  because  the  very 
fact  that  a  mixture  is  indicated  seems  to  show  that 
an  effort  is  being  made  at  greater  precision;  that  is, 
such  terms  seem  to  assert  definitely  that  some  quant- 
ity of  each  of  the  materials  indicated  is  present. 
By  simulating  or  conveying  the  impression  of  ac- 
curacy, such  terms  are  more  apt  to  mislead  than  if 
they  did  not  imply  a  mixture. 

Some  anomalous  terms  are  not  only  apt  to  be 
misleading  on  the  foregoing  ground  but  are  so  highly 
illogical  as  to  be  little  short  of  absurd.  Such  terms 
are  "Silk  Lisle,"  "Fibre  Silk,"  "Velour  Plush,"  and 
"Ramie  Linene." 

(4)  Terms  containing  a  combination  of  both  the 
name  of  a  country  (or  some  word  suggesting  a 
country)  and  a  material  which  is  used  in  the  manu- 
facture of  some  fabric  for  which  the  country  is  well 
known,  are  apt  to  have  a  strongly  misleading  effect 
when  used  inaccurately.  For  illustration,  the  follow- 
ing terms  may  be  mentioned:  Venetian  Satin,  Aus- 
tralian Wool,  Irish  Linen,  Kamura  Silk. 

(5)  Terms  which  contain  the  name  of  some  raw 
material  instead  of  a  fabric  are  apt  to  be  highly 
misleading,  e.  g.,  Linflax,  Australian  Wool. 


(6)  The  term  "fleece"  clearly  suggests  wool  to 
the  average  consumer,  and,  when  used  to  designate 
fabrics  or  materials  which  are  not  wool,  is  mis- 
leading, i— 

(7)  A  small  percentage  of  consumers  (appar- 
ently a  little  over  20% )  do  not  make  reasonable  dis- 
tinctions in  buying  fabrics.  While  their  misunder- 
standings are  ignored  by  many  retailers,  they  can 
be  constructively  served  by  simon  pure  accuracy  in 
advertising  description  and  names  of  fabrics. 

(8)  Certain  long  established  terms  which, 
though  they  may  once  have  been  misleading,  are 
now  generally  understood  by  consumers,  may  be 
admitted  as  not  now  misleading  although,  abstractly 
considered,  they  are  undesirable.  Such  terms  are 
Canton  Flannel,  Outing  Flannel,  India  Linen,  and 
possibly  Velveteen.  It  is  suggested  that  it  may  be 
well  to  indicate  the  exceptional  character  of  these 
terms  by  always  placing  after  them  in  parentheses 
the  name  of  the  material  of  which  they  are  com- 
posed. For  instance,  outing  flannel  should  be  des- 
cribed as  follows:    "Outing  Flannel,"  (Cotton). 

More  particularly,  however,  those  modifications 
which  follow  the  well  established  form  of  joining  to 
the  base  term  a  diminutive  ending  are  less  mis- 
leading. By  this  is  meant  such  terms  as  Velveteen, 
Sateen,  Silkaline  and  the  like.  On  the  basis  of  the 
Bureau's  questionnaire  it  may  be  concluded  that  a 
majority  of  consumers  take  the  ending  "een"  or 
variations  thereof  to  indicate  the  presence  of  cotton, 
and  it  will  be  observed  that  few  of  these  terms  are 
contained  in  the  list  of  misleading  terms  and  none 
have  been  found  which  are  highly  misleading. 

Custom  is  no  excuse  in  law  for  the  existence  of 
these  terms.  The  United  States  Supreme  Court  in 
the  Winsted  Hosiery  Company  decision  sees  no 
defense  for  misleading  trade  names  in  the  excuse 
that  they  are  a  custom  of  the  trade,  but  says  that 
"A  method  inherently  unfair  does  not  cease  to  be  so 
because  those  competed  against  have  become  aware 
of  the  wrongful  practice.  Nor  does  it  cease  to  be 
unfair  because  the  falsity  of  the  manufacturer's 
representation  has  become  so  well  known  to  the  trade 
that  dealers,  as  distinguished  from  consumers,  are  no 
longer  deceived.  The  honest  manufacturer's  busi- 
ness may  suffer,  not  merely  through  a  competitor's 
deceiving  his  direct  customer,  the  retailer,  but  also 


22 


TEXTILE  TRADE  TERMS 


through  the  competitor's  putting  into  the  hands  of 
the  retailer  an  unlawful  instrument,  which  enables 
the  retailer  to  increase  his  own  sales  of  the  dishonest 
goods,  thereby  lessening  the  market  for  the  honest 
product." 

(10)  When  the  fabric  to  be  named  is  not  all- 
pure,  the  use  of  general  terms  such  as  fabric,  cloth, 
material,  suiting,  etc.,  is  desirable  in  place  of  such 
terms  as  silk,  wool  or  woolen,  and  linen.  The  latter 
are  apt  to  mislead  because  they  not  only  indicate 
the  fabric,  but  also  the  materials  used  in  its  com- 
position. There  appears  to  be  no  logical  reason 
why  such  terms  as  "A.  B.  C.  Silk"  should  have  been 
used  instead  of  "A.  B,  C.  Fabric,"  or  "A.  B.  C. 
Cloth."  (Recently  the  manufacturer  has  followed  the 
procedure  here  suggested.) 


Several  illustrations  of  this  last  principle  might  be 
mentioned  from  actual  practice,  as,  for  example,  the 
fabric  called  "Ramie  Linene"  was  changed  to 
"American  Cloth,"  which  is  a  move  in  the  right 
direction  and  removes  all  misleading  implications. 

(11)  The  use  of  the  word,  "near,"  with  the  word, 
linen,  does  not  prevent  consumers  from  being  misled 
when  the  fabric  concerned  is  cotton. 

(12)  Such  terms  as  "Woolspun"  and  "Wool 
Processed"  are  misleading  when  applied  to  products 
which  contain  no  wool. 

The  two  foregoing  points  show  that  many  women 
reason  that  to  be  "Near  Linen"  or  "Woolspun,"  etc., 
the  fabric  must  contain  some  of  the  material  named 


APPENDIX  A. 
APPENDIX  B. 
APPENDIX  C. 


APPENDIX  A 


(1) 

Have  you  ever  received  complaints  from  customers 
that  the  trade  name  applied  to  silk  or  woolen 

fabrics  was  misleading?  . 

(2) 

If  so,  what  were  the  terms  complained  of? 

(3) 

Have  you  yourself  ever  been  misled  by  any  trade  name 
into  supposing  fabrics  containing  cotton  were  all 

silk  or  all  wool? 

FTONAT"RE 

ir,nnr<;'! 

APPENDIX  A 


APPENDIX  B. 

Tables  Showing  Complete  Returns  From  Questionnaires 


Questionnaire   "A" 

Aeroplane  Linen 

Alaflax 

Aledo  Silk 

Ail-but  Linen 

Amazon  Silk 

American  Silk 

American  Taffeta 

Artificial  Silk 

Australian  Wool 

Baronette  Satin 

Beauty  Satin 

Boudoir  Silk 

Boulevard  Velvet 

Brazos  Silk 

Brilliant  Satine 

Canton  Flannel 

Canton  Silk 

Clachan  Serge 

Costume  Velvet 

Deluxknit  Silk 

Dewkist  Silk 

Domet  Flannel 

Economy  Silk 

Feather  Silk 

French  Flannel 

French  Linen 

French  Linon 

French  Serge 


1 

2 

Total 
No.  of 

Replies 
in  ques- 
tionnaires 

Number 

Replying 

"Don't 

Know*' 

464 

40 

353 
373 

387 
365 
370 

183 
220 
146 
195 
149 

451 

158 

446 

147 

359 

81 

437 

60 

358 

179 

363 

178 

454 

262 

368 

225 

362 

118 

337 

15 

448 

97 

363 

208 

454 

134 

363 

227 

303 

105 

357 

155 

401 

148 

384 

234 

359 

39 

366 

97 

408 

124 

357 

190 

Total  No. 
of  replies 

Minus 

The   No. 

Replying 

"Don't 

Know" 


424 

170 
153 
241 
170 
221 
293 
309 
278 
377 
179 
185 
192 
143 
244 
322 
351 
155 
320 
136 
198 
202 
253 
150 
320 
269 
284 
167 


Material  Named 
by  Largest  Num- 
ber as  being  that 
of  which  the  fa- 
bric   is    composed. 


All  linen 
All  linen 
All  silk 
All  cotton 
All  silk 
All  silk 
All  silk 
Artificial  silk 
All  wool 
All  silk 
All  silk 
All  silk 
All  silk 
All  silk 
All  cotton 
All  cotton 
All  silk 
All  wool 
All  silk 
All  silk 
All  silk 
All  cotton 
Silk  &  cotton 
All  silk 
All  wool 
All  linen 
All  cotton 
All  wool 


5 


Per  cent 
naming 

Materials 
in  Col.  4 

Per  Cent 

based  on 
Col.  3) 


79 

43 

31 

74 

49 

51 

69 

35 

95 

51 

64 

62 

44 

46 

75 

75 

77 

69 

35 

52 

65 

47 

47 

48 

83 

88 

54 

73 


Material 

Suggested 

by  the 

term 


Linen 

Linen 

Silk 

Linen 

Silk 

Silk 

Silk 

Silk 

Wool 

Silk 

Silk 

Silk 

Silk 

Silk 

Silk 

Wool 

SUk 

Wool 

Silk 

Silk 

Silk 

Wool 

Silk 

Silk 

Wool 

Linen 

Linen 

Wool 


Per  cent 
naming 
material 

as 

the 
Whole 
Content 


79 
43 
31 
2 
49 
51 
69 

95 
51 
64 
62 
44 
46 

5 

8.7 
77 
69 
35 
52 
65 
34 

8 
48 
85 
88 
17 
73 


Per  ct  nt 

naming 

material 

as 

the 

Part 

Content 


APPENDIX  B. 
Tables  Showing  Complete  Returns  From  Questionnaires 


Questionnaire  "A" 


Georgette  Silk 

Gloveskin  Woolens*  . .  . 
Golden  Fleece  Blankets. 

Hero  Flannel 

India  Linen 

Irish  Poplin 

Italian  Silk 

Jap  Silk 

Kearsage  Flannel 

Khaki-Kool 

Killarney  Linen 

Kumsi  Kumsa  Silk 

Lackawanna  Wool-. 

Linene 

Linenized  Cretonnes 

Linflax  Suitings 

Lingerie  Silk 

Lin-N-like 

Linonette 

Maisilk 

Marronette  Silk 

Marvel  Silk 

Mohcilque 

Near  Linen 

Nu  Satin 

Outing  Flannel 

Palmer  Linen 


Total 
No.  of 
Replies 
in  ques- 
tionnaires 


439 
258 
357 
357 
307 
354 
450 
451 
351 
366 
546 
364 
355 
358 
375 
446 
360 
344. 
369 
355 
360 
368 
354 
544 
449 
256 
360 


Number 
Replying 
"Don't 
Know" 


58 

99 
125 
218 

48 

92 
150 

60 
219 
117 
247 
155 
195 

32 

84 
177 

94 
140 
143 
239 
237 
224 
310 

91 
232 

16 
188 


Total  No. 
of  replies 

Minus 
the  No. 
Replying 
"Don't 

Know 


Material  Named 
by  Largest  Num- 
ber as  being  that  of 
which  the  fabric  is 
composed 


Per  cent 
naming 
Materials 
in  Col.  4 
Per  cent 
based  on 
Col.  3 


381 

159 
232 
139 
259 
262 
300 
391 
132 
249 
299 
209 
160 
326 
291 
269 
266 
204 
226 
116 
123 
144 
44 
453 
217 
240 
172 


All  silk 
All  wool 
All  wool 
All  wool 
All  cotton 
All  cotton 
All  silk 
All  silk 
All  wool 
All  silk 
All  linen 
All  silk 
All  wool 
All  cotton 
All  cotton 
All  cotton 
All  silk 
All  cotton 
All  cotton 
Artificial  silk 
All  silk 
All  silk 
All  cotton 
All  cotton 
All  cotton 
All  cotton 
All  linen 


72 

77 

48 

56 

73 

56 

84 

83 

56 

51 

86 

63 

75 

76 

83 

42 

45 

83 

75 

31 

45 

40 

25 

52 

40 

76 

46 


Material 

Suggested 

by  the 

term 


Silk 
Wool 
Wool 
Wool 

Linen 

[Silk 
(Linen 

Silk 

Silk 

Wool 

Silk 

Linen 

Silk 

Wool 

Linen 

Linen 

Linen 

Silk 

Linen 

Linen 

Silk 

Silk 

Silk 

Silk 

Linen 

Silk 

Wool 

Linen 


Per  cent 

naming 

material 

as 

the 

Whole 

Content 


72 

77 
48 
56 

11 

7 
6 

85 
83 
56 
51 
86 
63 
75 


7 
45 
.009 

16 

45 

40 

9 

11 
7 
46  ■ 


Per  cent 

naming 

material 

as 

the 

Part 
Content 


16 

18 
23 
27 

15 

22 
11 

6 
10 
25 
27 

7 
13 
16 
22 
15 
26 
37 
13 
20 
29 
19 
19 

7 
44 
32 
17 
23 


*So  written  in  questionnaire.     "Gloveskin  Cloth"  is  the  registered  name  of  certain  woolen  dress  goods. 


APPENDIX  B. 

Tables  Showing  Complete  Returns  From  Questionnaires 


1 

2 

3 

4           I 

6 

7 

8 

Questionnaire   "A" 

Total 
No.  of 
Replies 
in  ques- 
tionnaires 

Number 

Replying 

"Don't 

Know" 

Total  No. 

of  replies 
Minus 

The   No. 

Replying 
"Don't 
Know" 

Material  Named 
by  Largest  Num- 
ber as  being  that 
of    which    the    fa- 
bric   is    composed. 

Per  cent 
naming 

Materials 
in  Col.  A 

Per  Cen 
based  on 
Col.  3) 

Material 

Suggested 

by  the 

term 

Per  cent 
naming 
material 
as 
the 
Whole 
Content 

Per  ct  nt 

naming 

material 

as 

the 

Part 

Content 

Persian  Fleece 

445 
368 
443 
463 
371 
246 
446 
357 
385 
348 
352 
439 
372 
361 
354 
355 
461 
354 
358 
356 
352 
358 
351 
354 
255 
354 
299 
365 

258 

167 

226 

152 

144 

37 

171 

71 

105 

134 

63 

80 

215 

123 

69 

43 

213 

185 

64 

40 

126 

213 

175 

141 

241 

221 

145 

169 

187 
201 
217 
311 
227 
209 
275 
286 
280 
214 
289 
359 
157 
238 
285 
312 
248 
169 
294 
316 
226 
145 
176 
213 
114 
133 
154 
196 

All  wool 
AUsUk 
All  cotton 
All  silk 
AU  cotton 
AUsilk 
AUsilk 
All  wool 
AU  linen 
Silk  &  cotton 
AUsilk 
AU  cotton 
AU  cotton 
All  cotton 
All  cotton 
All  cotton 
AU  cotton 
All  cotton 
All  cotton 
Silk  &  cotton 
AU  cotton 
All  cotton 
All  cotton 
All  cotton 
AUsilk 
AU  wool 
AUsilk 
All  cotton 

65 
27 
39 
66 
56 
84 
81 
95 
78 
38 
75 
65 
48 
71 
64 
57 
57 
54 
47 
50 
65 
43 
36 
49 
33 
60 
73 
45 

Wool 

SUk 

SUk 

SUk 

Linen 

SUk 

Silk 

Wool 

Linen 

Silk 

Silk 

SUk 

SUk 

SUk 

SUk 

SUk 

Silk 

Silk 

SUk 

Silk 

Silk 

Silk 

SUk 

SUk 

SUk 

Wool 

SUk 

Silk    1 

65 

27 

9 

66 

10 

84 

81 

95 

78 

19 

75 

1 

7 

9 

2 

3 

32 

7 

4 

13 

17 

33 

60 

73 

7 

12 

Pongeea 

40 

Pongeen 

36 

Radio  silk 

15 

Ramie  Linene 

25 

14 

Satin  de  Chine 

13 

Saxony  Wool 

2 

Scotch  Linen 

6 

Seco  SUk 

59 

Shantung  SUk 

18 

Silkaline 

23 

SUkataff 

30 

Silkateen 

20 

SUk  Finished  Poplin 

33 

SUk  Gingham 

30 

Silkine 

22 

Silkolette 

27 

Silk  Lisle 

47 

Skinner's  Satin  Lining 

54 

Soisette 

19 

Subsilk 

36 

Suesine  SUk 

38 

28 

26 

Swanskin  Woolen 

32 

Taffeta'Plaid 

17 

Taffateen 

38 

APPENDIX  B. 
Tables  Showing  Complete  Returns  From  Questionnaires 


i 

2 

3 

4 

9 

6 

7 

8 

Questionnaire  "A" 

Total 
No.  of 
Replies 
in  ques- 
tionnaires 

Number 
Replying 
"Don't 
Know" 

Total  No. 

of  replies 
Minus 

the  No. 

Replying 
"Don't 
Know 

Material  Named 
by  Largest  Num- 
ber as  being  that  of 
which  the  fabric  is 
composed 

Per  cent 
naming 
Materials 
in  Col.  i 
Per  cent 
based  on 
Col.  3 

Material 

Suggested 

by  the 

term 

Per  cent 

naming 

material 

as 

the 

Whole 

Content 

Per  cent 

naming 

material 

as 

the 

Part 

Content 

334 
328 
360 
435 
335 
450 
367 
477 
355 
361 
353 
353 
349 
357 
350 
363 
355 

213 
66 
215 
88 
141 
247 
128 
255 
49 
168 
174 
128 
176 
168 
214 
229 
242 

121 
262 
145 
347 
194 
213 
239 
222 
306 
193 
179 
225 
173 
189 
136 
134 
113 

All  silk 
All  silk 
All  silk 

All  silk 

[Linen  &       1 
|     cotton      J 

All  silk 
Silk  &  cotton 
All  cotton 
All  cotton 

All  wool 

[Wool  &       1 
1     cotton      / 

All  cotton 

[Wool  &       1 
\     cotton      J 

All  wool 

[Wool  &       1 
\     cotton     / 

Silk  &  wool 
All  silk 

32 
47 
38 
52 
37 
51 
23 
50 
61 
53 
55 
29 
3 
65 
33 
57 
40 

Silk 

Silk 

Silk 

Silk 

Linen 

Silk 
(Cotton 
|Silk 

[Wool 
Silk 

Silk 

Wool 

Wool 

Wool 

Wool 

Wool 

Wool 

/Silk 
\Wool 

Silk 

32 

47 

38 

52 

23 

51 
16 
14 
10 

2 

53 
66 
20 
26 
65 
27 

40 

41 

Tricolette  Silk 

14 

18 

Tub  Silk 

35 

Union  Linen 

50 

Venetian  Satin 

18 

Velour  Plush 

35 
45 

Velvetta 

32 

28 

Velveteen 

36 

Weartex  Serge 

40 

Woolene 

69 

Wool  Nap 

39 

Wool  Processed .' 

44 

Woolspun 

25 

Wulspun 

38 

Wulsylk 

62 

Zaza  Silk 

62 
20 

APPENDIX  C 


Questionnaire  "B" 

(N.  B.    A  few  terms  were  duplicated 
in  the   two  Questionnaires) 

Total 
No.  of 
Replies 

Number 

Replying 

"Don't 

Know" 

Total 
Minus 
"Don't 
Know" 

Material 

Named  by 
Largest 
Number 

Per  cent 

of 

Total 

Alpaca 

449 
478 
466 
375 
462 
449 
440 
461 
463 
472 
461 
462 
460 
462 
460 
448 
448 
459 
461 
460 
448 
456 
456 
457 
427 
459 
459 
458 
460 
462 
479 
459 
459 

44 
22 
55 
19 
14 
29 
5 
24 
59 
37 
16 
29 
17 
29 
19 
63 
20 
22 
13 
12 
11 
68 
60 
9 

180 
77 

167 
38 
60 
40 
64 
17 
20 

405 
456 
411 
356 
448 
420 
435 
437 
404 
435 
445 
433 
443 
433 
441 
385 
428 
437 
448 
448 
437 
388 
396 
448 
247 
382 
292 
420 
400 
422 
415 
442 
439 

All  wool 
All  cotton 
All  silk 
All  cotton 
All  silk 
All  cotton 
All  silk 
All  linen 
All  wool 
Artificial  silk 
All  wool 
All  silk 
All  silk 
All  cotton 
All  cotton 
Silk  &  cotton 
All  silk 
All  cotton 
All  cotton 
All  silk 
All  wool 
All  silk 
Silk  &  cotton 
All  silk 
Silk  &  cotton 
All  silk 
All  silk 
All  wool 
All  wool 
All  silk 
All  cotton 
All  cotton 
All  wool 

52 

80 

35 

Canton  Flannel 

73 

76 

43 

Crepe  de  Chine 

84 

62 

33 

Fibre  Silk 

69 

72 

65 

Linene 

67 
61 

Outing  Flannel 

77 

Plush 

45 

66 

21 

75 

72 

75 

Shantung  Silk 

66 

Silk  Lisle 

51 

Taffeta 

89 

Taffateen 

42 

Tulle 

61 

Tussah 

55 

65 

38 

Velvet 

45 

Velveteen 

52 

Voile 

72 

71 

14  DAY  USE 

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